Come along with me as I take you through the Pon Pon process with an exclusive behind-the-scenes look into how my current designs are conceived and brought to life.

Every piece begins with an idea, with inspiration found from the observed environment, art, architecture, design, or fashion.

The quickest way to translate the ideas rattling about in my brain into something more tangible is putting pen/pencil/marker to paper and allowing the free flow of drawing and doodling to take over. I take these ideas and change them up, overlapping shapes to see how the positive and negative spaces interact to create something new and fresh.

Lately, I’ve been breaking free from the constraints of rigid geometry, inspired by the cut-outs of Matisse. I’m embracing imperfection and organic shapes – a degree of wonkiness, you might say!

Once I’ve amassed a collection of ideas and potential designs, they are sorted, scanned and transformed into vector shapes. This stage allows me to experiment a bit more, including playing with different variations and fine-tuning dimensions and scale. The final materials are considered at this point, including materials, colours, findings, and other elements that will bring the piece together. The digital designs are printed onto paper and cut out to see their scale and how they might look against an ear.

Once a new set of designs is finalised, we enter the next stage; organising them in the laser cutting digital template. This is akin to assembling a jigsaw puzzle, ensuring that material use is maximised and waste minimised. Even the smallest offcuts find a home, awaiting their role in future creative and one-off projects.

Now is the time to have the designs edge closer to the finished product. There is much excitement when the laser cuts arrive, with many oohs and aahs! Often times a particular design will capture me more than I expected, becoming an instant favourite.

Due to the preparation and fine-tuning stage, there are (usually) no surprises! As you can imagine, a flat concept only seen on paper and a computer screen takes on a life of its own when it’s a 3D object that moves and catches the light, taking on its own personality, in turn reflecting the personality of the wearer – hopefully you!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this small glimpse into how each Pon Pon piece finds its way from my imagination to your ears.

There is so much more in store for Pon Pon, with new materials, methods, and designs in the pipeline. It’s a challenge, trying to keep a lid on my excitement as these things develop, but all good things take time.

Make sure you keep an eye on the socials and the website, as some lovely new things are not too far away.